How YOU can help fight spam

[jesus.arnold]

I was getting 4-5 spambots a day on my forums until I found this

http://www.phpbb.com/kb/article/cust...-spammer-tool/

You just copy out what it says into the "custom profile fields" section of the admin part of the forum, I used the "Numbers Method" but I'd imagine you could use a question such as "who is the fastest blue hedgehog alive" or something in the same way.

[Joe Redifer]

We don't use PHPBB, though.

[jesus.arnold]

Oops sorry LOL, I thought you did as it seemed as though the forum looked like the default PHPBB design from what I remember, other wise I would've checked the bottom of the page.

Surely there's a similar alternative of the same thing for VBulletin though?

EDIT: What about this page? http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/profile

[Joe Redifer]

So basically you are suggesting adding a custom field and if it is not answered or answered incorrectly, then they do not get approved?

[Baloo]

So basically you are suggesting adding a custom field and if it is not answered or answered incorrectly, then they do not get approved?

Yes. Example:

"Are you a bot or human? (Type human)"

____

That's a perfect example of a question like that.

[Joe Redifer]

I do like that idea, but that requires that we check every single new member individually, of which there could be 50+ per day. Also, that option does not come up until the member is already registered, clicks on their e-mail and taken to their profile. They may not even see that they can enter stuff. I would love to do it if it can be applied to the initial registration before e-mail verification.

At www.the-magicbox.com, I added a few custom fields like Favorite games and "System or Company you are biased towards". Anyone who fills either or both of those out correctly automatically gets approved by me. Usually the bots will just put a spam link in the Favorite Games field, or their member name or something else stupid.

[Joe Redifer]

WAITAMINUTE!!!!

OK, this can indeed be done easily! At least I think so. I tried this over on magicbox and it works, but we have 3.8.x and this is 3.7.4

Melf will need to do this as I do not seem to have access to the full Admin Control Panel.
Go into the Human Verification settings. Choose "Question and Answer". Edit the question to something like "What color is Sonic the Hedgehog?" (that is the question I chose at magicbox). Save. Go to edit answer and just type "blue" (no quotes). Save. Should work perfectly! I may change the question if it is too easy for bots to register.

Also, many have already registered that may trigger spam posts at a later date. They don't all attack immediately.

[jesus.arnold]

So basically you are suggesting adding a custom field and if it is not answered or answered incorrectly, then they do not get approved?

The question appears on the "Register" section with the rest of the signing up questions, If the question is answered incorrectly then the bot can't register to join up to the forum at all.

[Joe Redifer]

Apparently not all bots are bots as they register. Some are answering my question correctly at the-magicbox and still getting through (even with the "Man" stuff in the biography). Gentlegamer got through, if that says anything! However there are far fewer that get through and it makes it much easier to check each individual profile. Right now my question is "What is a popular abbreviation for the Playstation 2?"

[Da_Shocker]

Ok I have been a member of IGN, Sestren, Bigbot and an a few adult forums and I have never ever seen this kinda rampant spam issues like this before.

[Baloo]

Oh, I've seen some forums much worse than this, spambots getting in every day it felt like. After a while it goes away though, once you just b& them on the spot and keep it controlled through registry questions. After that it will die down.

[Baloo]

New bot -

Sadomi

[QuickSciFi]

êîòîðûõD

[edit] Just typing down the screen name feels like a spam.

[Deo]

Found one

ByuLevraLine

[Knuckle Duster]

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